"I didn't say that," bellowed Colonel Witham, rising from his chair. But
it was plain the suggestion of the fortune-teller worried him. "What did
you do in there?" he added. "If you did any harm, you'll suffer for it."

"We didn't," said Henry Burns. "We only played on a horse-fiddle once or
twice. You know there are rats in the mill, colonel. I guess they
scampered when they heard that."

Colonel Witham had been about to burst forth with an angry exclamation;
but the thought of his own ignominious flight made him pause. Rats,
indeed! He knew there wasn't a rat in the whole mill that had been half
so terrified as he.

"Now see here," he said, shaking his fist for emphasis, "I know you
didn't do any harm in the mill. It was one of your crazy pranks. But
don't you ever go in there again, or I'll make trouble for you."

"We're not going to," said Henry Burns.

"There isn't anything in there, anyway," urged Colonel Witham. "I've
heard that talk, around Benton, and it's all nonsense. You couldn't find
anything in there, if you hunted a hundred years."

"But we did find something," said Henry Burns, in a matter-of-fact way.

Colonel Witham's jaw dropped, and he looked at Henry Burns almost
helplessly. He couldn't speak for a moment. Then he asked, huskily,
"What was it you found? None of your pranks now; what did you find?"

"A small box, with some coins in it," replied Henry Burns; and he
described the hiding place. "There was a dollar and eighty-six cents."

Colonel Witham looked relieved. "Give them to me," he cried. "You've got
no right to the stuff."

"Wasn't it Ellison's?" inquired Henry Burns.

"Never you mind whose it was," cried Colonel Witham. "It was in my mill.
Give it to me, or I'll have the law on you."

"There were some papers, too," continued Henry Burns.

Colonel Witham staggered again. The hand that held his pipe shook. Then
his eyes twinkled craftily.

"Well, you're right smart boys," he said. "Keep the money, if you want
it, or give it to John Ellison. Yes, it was Jim Ellison's--the money
was. But the papers are mine. Have you got them? Give me the papers, and
keep the money. I don't claim the money."

"Yes, I've got the papers," replied Henry Burns. "Here they are. There's
all there were."

He handed the package to Colonel Witham, who took it with trembling
hand. Then Henry Burns and his friends made a hurried departure. By the
time the colonel had made an examination of the papers, a